


a sheltered rose

by comefeedtherainn



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy, Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, M/M, Mass Effect Big Bang 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2020-07-09
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:40:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 15,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25160275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/comefeedtherainn/pseuds/comefeedtherainn
Summary: A scurge of organ failures has resulted in the birth of GeneCo, a company dedicated to genetic modification and the provision of organ replacements. When customers are unable to meet their payments, GeneCo sends mercenaries known as Repo Men to reposess their property by force. Shepard and Kaidan are a couple attempting to navigate this world. Shepard, a doctor who conceals the fact that he is responsible for the chronic illness of his husband and ex-partner in practice, Kaidan, works in secret as a Repo Man for the head of GeneCo, Henry Lawson. Why does he engage in such a horrific, thankless job, when he was once a healer? Can Kaidan emancipate not only himself, but his husband as well?
Relationships: Kaidan Alenko/Male Shepard
Comments: 5
Kudos: 17
Collections: Mass Effect Big Bang 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story was written for the Mass Effect Big Bang 2020, featuring art from solstheimart on tumblr! Please go check out the art post on tumblr for higher quality and to leave looooots of love!! https://solstheimart.tumblr.com/post/623120934322225152/hi-yall-super-excited-to-show-off-what-ive

**KAIDAN**

****

_"Vote now on prop 598 and keep organ reposessions legal!"_

_"If companies like GeneCo couldn't reposesses organs, they couldn't give live-saving surgeries to people we love."_

_"Henry Lawson to select an heir to the GeneCo fortune in light of his worsening health."_

_"Miranda Lawson - can she live up to Blind Jack as the face of her father's company?"_

The ads echoing throughout the city began to run together, eventually, until Kaidan couldn't pick out what any of them were saying. Even so many years after the onset of the plague, since all of the deaths and the decimation of the economy and population, he still wasn't quite used to the silence. His memory still missed the sound of traffic and voices and trains rushing by. Not that he'd be able to enjoy it, even if there were people out there - he could get ill, after all. The fact that the window was open at all was a miracle, but that was only because John was away at-

"Kaidan."

Kaidan blinked, looking up at the sound of his husband's voice and trying to look innocent. "Hey. You're back early."

John gave him an exasperated look, crossing the room and closing the window firmly. "Yeah, a patient cancelled. Kaidan, why aren't you wearing your mask with the window open?"

Kaidan sighed heavily, sliding off of the window seat. "It was just for a second."

He shuffled over to the bed, sinking down to sit and smiling weakly when John knelt in front of him, taking his hands and his expression softened.

"Sorry. I just don't want you getting sick," John said softly. 'You know it's dangerous, K."

"I know," Kaidan said, forcing himself to keep his voice measured. "How was your day?" 

John searched his eyes for a moment, then got up only to sit beside him. "Long. Tiring. Missed you."

Kaidan smiled more genuinely, turning his head to kiss John's cheek. "Missed you, too. I go crazy just sitting here all day."

"I know. I'm sorry." 

John got up again, taking off his work clothes and depositing them in the hamper before replacing them with lounge wear. He grabbed a glass of water from a shelf near the door, retrieving Kaidan's medication while he was at it. Kaidan watched him quietly, chewing on the inside of his lip.

"John."

"Yeah."

"Do you think...I mean. I've been feeling pretty good lately. I haven't had a seizure in a while, and the migraines aren't as bad."

John gave him a look, raising an eyebrow. "Kaidan."

"I'm just saying, I...maybe I could come back to work?" Kaidan ventured. "If I just wear a mask all day?"

"It's too dangerous," John said firmly. "You especially can't come back to work at the hospital, K."

Kaidan ground his teeth, looking away from him. "I can't just sit in this house for the rest of my life."

"It's not for the rest of your life," John sighed, and Kaidan could only partly blame him. It was an old, tired argument. "Just until I find a cure. And I will, I promise."

"We don't know when that will be," Kent murmured. "Am I just supposed to stay in here for years?"

It was silent, but Kaidan didn't look back over, too busy glaring at the opposite wall as his eyes burned. John crossed into his line of vision but he still refused to meet his eyes, even as he knelt in front of him again.

"Kaidan, please look at me."

Kaidan didn't. John sighed through his nose, reaching to pet Kaidan's cheek with his thumb.

"Kaidan, I...I'm doing the best I can," he said quietly. "I'm trying to figure it out. And I just need...I just need you to stay here, where it's safe, so it's not all for nothing. Okay?"

It was hard to remember why he was angry, after that. HIs shoudlers slumped, a lump forming in his throat as the guilt settled. 

"...I'm sorry."

John wrapped his arms around him tightly, kissing his temple.

"I know it's not fair," he murmured, his nose buried in Kaidan's hair. "I love you. I promise I'll fix it."

Kaidan smiled weakly at him when he pulled away, nodding and taking the glass of water from him. He watched as John tapped two drops of medicine into the liquid, before kissing his forehead and going to resume getting ready for bed.

"I know. I love you, too."

* * *

**JOHN**

The target was moving west, crossing through alleys and avoiding main roads.

The light rain spattered John's visor, and he wiped it swiftly, narrowing his eyes as he followed the blip on his tracker. The night around him appeared bathed in red through his lenses, shapes more prominent and the dark less oppressive to his vision. The target stopped moving, and he picked up his pace, heay boots thudding on the asphalt. He rounded a corner, coming face to face with a deserted alley. He frowned deeply, glancing back down at his tracker and finding the blip had moved. On instinct he turned, registering a man soaked through and holding a bat high about his head, before closing a hand around his throat and shoving him up against the alley wall.

The man croaked, swinging for him with the bat, which John caught easily with his other hand. He tossed it over his shoulder with a clatter, before slamming his fist into the man's temple. He let him fall to the ground, standing over his unconscious form as he pulled the document he'd been provided when accepting this job, the target's mug, name, and organ to be repossessed all outlined for him in black and white. He crouched before the target, double checking his face before nodding and putting the document back in it's place. Along knife resembling an overgrown scalpel replaced it in his palm, John's knuckles white around the handle.

Vertebrae repossession, the document said. Six months delinquent on payments.

John watched himself from somewhere up above, his consciousness floating and watching himself as he turned over the target on autopilot, tearing opening his shirt and lining up his tool before beginning the incision. When the target began to stir, John could only barely hear it, muffled as if his ears had been blown out. It stopped soon enough, replaced by a weak gurgling and then deathly silence. With a practiced precision he completed the incision, locating the section of the target's spine to be retrieved - locating GeneCo's property. As he sawed and pulled it free, the falling rain rinsed off the blood and revealed a bar code. Cross checking with his document once more, John confirmed that he'd gotten what he came for. 

He still felt numb, like he was high or in a dream, as he got to his feet and hauled the corpse over his shoulder. A body collecting truck was stopped nearby, and he deposited the body in the back before going on his way.

The next moment, he was standing before the front door of his home, staring into space with his vision unfocused. He blinked, wondering how long he'd been standing there, his legs and arms a bit stiff as he retrieved his key from his pocket. He unlocked the door quietly, trying to close it just as silently - Kaidan was asleep upstairs, and, well...John had some cleaning up to do.

The fireplace on the opposite end of the entryway opened with the touch of a button, which was less loud as the stone separated from the wall. John grimaced and held his breath, swearing softly when he heard footsteps on the landing. He disappeared into the gap, pulling the makeshift door closed again before his husband could spot him in his blood-drenched uniform. After locking it tight again, he descended the stairs, censor-activated lights coming to life in his wake. He began to pull off his uniform, staring with the helmet and then the gloves. He set them aside, removing the thick, black coat and staining his hands with blood in the process. He brought each item of clothing to the tiled utility shower in the far corner, hanging them up and retrieving the hose to methodically spray them down.

At some point he came back to himself, and he barely caught himself as he fell to his knees. He shook so terribly he nearly lost his bracing, his fingertips digging into the stone floor and he coughed and wretched dryly. He found himself on his back at some point, staring up at the ceiling as he collapsed in on himself, a nightly ritual that he was used to, by now. When the shaking stopped, he got to his feet again, weak and numb as he pulled off the rest of his clothes and deposited them in a hamper to be washed. He changed slowly, looking at himself in a mirror to check for blood and getting nauseous again just seeing his own face. The urge to punch it came and went - if he split his knuckles he'd only have more blood to deal with, after all.

John's feet dragged up the stairs, back through the hidden doorway and up into his husband's bedroom. His, too, he supposed, but this wasn't really his home anymore. Men like him didn't have homes, did'nt have husbands that loved them despite how many terrible things they'd done. Especially if those terrible things were done to those husbands.

An accident, a mistake, a miscalculation, overconfident, overzealous, under-prepared, under-estimating.

John paused outside of the bedroom door, his palm presssed flat to the wood as he took deep, measured breaths through his nose. When he was calm, he stepped through, smiling when he saw Kaidan sitting up in bed.

"Hey," Kaidan said, his thick brows pulled into a frown over whiskey eyes. God, John loved those eyes, even when they were haloed by dark circles. "I thought I heard something downstairs, but you weren't there. Was that you?"

John nodded, crossing to the armoire to start getting ready for a sleep that likely wouldn't come. "Yeah, sorry. I went to the study first to drop things off."

Kaidan nodded, smiling sleepily when John sat beside him and kissed his cheek. "How was your night?"

"Long," John said honestly, pulling Kaidan into his arms and sighing heavily. "Really, really long."

"Mm. M'sorry," Kaidan murmured, tilting his head back to kiss his jaw. "...sorry about earlier, too. I know why I haev to stay inside. And I know you're trying your best."

John briefly fantasized about being on his knees before Kaidan, slitting his wrists figuratively, or even literally if that would make him happy. Confessing everything, taking all of the power away from fucking Henry Lawson and just letting Kaidan leave him or kill him himself, whatever he thought was best.

But he was a coward. And because he was a coward, he smiled and kissed Kaidan softly, as if he deserved to.

"You don't have to be sorry," he said. "You didn't do anything wrong."

Kaidan hummed, nearly half asleep again as he rested on John's shoulder. "I love you."

John closed his eyes, resting his cheek on top of Kaidan's head and letting out a long, slow sigh through his nose. 

"I love you, too, Kaidan."


	2. Chapter 2

**KAIDAN**

Kaidan woke to a cup of water on the bedside table, medicine already distilled inside and a note underneath. John had been called to the hospital, again, and would be back late. Kaidan pushed himself up to sit, grimacing at his aching joints - laying still so often would do that, especially to a man his age. He took the cup and downed it in two long swallows, the bitterness of the medicine inside hardly bothering him at this point. The window was closed and latched again, the sounds of the city muted and leaving him in silence. Alone. Always alone.

He nearly leapt out of his skin as his communicator buzzed on the side table, a familiar name flashing on the screen. He pursed his lips, debating, before curiosity won out and he plucked the device off of the table.

"Henry," he said by way of a curt greeting.

"Kaidan," came the voice of Henry Lawson, warm and snaking down his spine, as much as he wanted to deny it. "How have you been? You sound well."

Kaidan snorted quietly. "Sure. What do you want?"

"Well there's no need to be so stiff," Henry laughed, almost like he was amused by him. "I've called for a business opportunity, actually."

Kaidan frowned. "John's not home. He got called into work."

"No, no. John and I's business relationship is long over," Henry assured him. "I've called for you for a reason. I wonder if I could stop by? Are you still at the same address?"

Kaidan hesitated, frowning at the opposite wall. "Why? What kind of proposition?"

"This will be much easier done in person, Kaidan. Please."

"I'm not supposed to have guests," Kaidan told him. "I have a compromised immune system. Plus I get seizures and migraines."

"I'll keep my distance."

"John will be upset."

"Does John need to know everything?"

Kaidan pursed his lips, unable to think of a good argument for that.

"Ten minutes," said Henry. "That's all I need. And then I'll leave."

A heavy sigh, and Kaidan nodded at no one. "Fine. But come soon. If John comes back and you're here, he'll lose his mind."

"I'll leave right now. See you soon, Kaidan."

The line went quiet, and Kaidan set his communicator aside, chewing on the inside of his lip. Henry was as persuasive - or was it pushy? - as ever, getting what he wanted from Kaidan and making him think it was his idea. The break up had been tense, but that had been nothing compared to Kaidan dating and marrying Henry's business partner. A bit of a low blow, he could admit, but...well. John was a hard man to resist.

An urge he couldn't explain had him fixing his hair in the standing mirror, grimacing at the dark circles around his eyes and the sallow color of his skin. No wonder John had practically scoffed when he'd suggested going back to work. He looked like a damn corpse. He grit his teeth, turning away from the mirror in irritation. The callbox buzzed, startling him again, and he practically ran to press the voice button.

"Hello?"

"It's me."

Kaidan took a deep breath, bracing himself, before unlocking the gate outside. He plucked a sweater off of the back of the chair at the desk int he corner, pulling it around his shoudlers as he left the bedroom and strode out onto the landing. He stopped at the top of the stairs, watching as Henry Lawson stepped through his front door, hardly aged a day in an expensive suit and a new haircut. His stern face split into a smile when he and Kaidan locked eyes.

"Kaidan. You look lovely."

Kaidan raised an eyebrow, because that was bullshit if he'd ever heard it. He gripped the banister tightly, his knuckles white. "Henry. You said you had a proposition."

"I did. Are we going to speak from across the room?" Henry asked, almost playfully.

"I'm not supposed to be near other people. Especially when they've been outside," Kaidan told him firmly.

Henry didn't respond to that. "I'm sure you remember Jack, the face of GeneCo?"

"I never met her, but yes," Kaidan nodded once. "What about her?"

Henry walked further into the entry way, his shiny shoes clunking dully on the wood floor. He admired the fireplace tucked in the corner underneath the landing, running his fingers along the mantle almost in interest.

"Jack is stepping down from her position," he said eventually, turning to face Kaidan again. "And there is no one to take her place."

Kaidan frowned. "Why is she stepping down? She always struck me as someone who would be around forever."

Henry's mouth curved into a lazy smile. "She's decided to pursue other endeavors."

"Okay. I still don't understand what this has to do with me."

"My daughter would be a natural successor," said Henry, though his upper lip curled just saying it. "But Miranda is...well, you remember. I can't rely on her, not entirely."

Kaidan certainly could remember. Working at the hospital, they didn't come into contact very often with the Lawson family, despite the fact that they owned the place and had a stranglehold on all things medicine and surgery. Despite this, everyone knew of Miranda Lawson, Henry's wayward daughter. The tabloids said she was a Zydrate addict, constantly getting surgeries and spending her days and nights so stoned she frequently missed GeneCo's public appearances. Toward the end of he and Kaidan's relationship, Henry had hired Jack to take her place, a blind woman who received a revolutionary invention of GeneCo's - genetically created and modified eyes. GeneCo hadn't charged her a cent, in exchange for her agreeing to become a spokesperson for the company.

"And since I can't rely on my daughter," Henry continued, shaking Kaidan from his reverie, "I wanted to ask if you would be willing to become the next spokesperson for GeneCo."

Kaidan blinked, staring at him and trying to decide if he'd heard right. "Me? I couldn't."

Henry quirked a thick, black eyebrow at him. "And why not?"

"I don't know the first thing about...this kind of thing," Kaidan insisted. "And I'll be going back to the hospital as soon as I can."

"It won't take up too much of your time," siad Henry. "Just some appearances, advertisements, interviews now and then."

Kaidan sighed heavily through his nose, shaking his head even as something inside him perked up a bit at the chance to have a purpose again. Even if it wasn't what he really wanted to be doing, at least it would be something...

"I can't," he repeated firmly. "I get migraines, and seizures. I can't risk it."

Henry's smile grew at that, his eyes glinting. "And that brings us to the second part of my proposition."

"Spit it out."

"GeneCo is currently developing a revolutionary fix for traumatic brain injury and diseases," Henry told him with a hint of amusement, as if he found Kaidan adorable. Bastard. "I'd love it if you would be the face of this advancement. It will put GeneCo on the map like never before, beyond our region and into the world at large. And you could be a part of it!"

Kaidan chewed the inside of his lip, picking at a bit of peeling paint on the banister. "I don't know."

"I know how much you want to be able to leave this prison John has made for you," Henry said, taking a step closer. Kaidan hadn't realized until just then that he'd descended two steps, himself - he planted his feet more firmly. "Beyond that, I know how much you want to help people. It must be killing you to be trapped in this house."

Kaidan grit his teeth. "It is not a prison," he said, even as the words felt stilted coming from between his teeth. "John is doing his best, he's going to find a cure."

"In time, I'm sure he would," Henry conceded. "But the hospitals refuse to use experimental treatments. This endeavour could take years. Can you wait years, Kaidan?"

The mere thought of being confined to that house, that bedroom, that bed, for years made Kaidan's heart rate spike. He took a few breaths to keep his blood pressure down. "...I'm still not sure. I'm listening, but...I'm not sure."

"Of course," Henry nodded, smiling easily. "I wonder if you might join me for an hour, two hours tops? I'd love for you to meet Jack, and Miranda. They can tell you what you can expect."

Kaidan narrowed his eyes at him. "I thought MIranda wasn't trustworthy?"

"I'm sure she'll be thrilled to hear that she won't have to be solely responsible for GeneCo's marketing," Henry snorted. "She'll want to meet you."

Kaidan took another breath, glancing toward the door over Henry's shoudler. "John could be back at any time. If he finds me missing, he'll panic."

"It's a busy night at the hospital," Henry assured him, holding out a hand. "Come, now. You are your own man, aren't you?"

Kaidan debated for another moment, his lips pursed tightly, before huffing through his nose. "I need my mask and pills."

"Of course. I'll meet you at the car."

Kaidan power walked back into the bedroom, shutting the door behind him and leaning against it as he closed his eyes. He hated lying to John, hated it more than anything in the world, but he also hated this life. He'd told Henry he wasn't in a cage, and he wasn't, not really, but it still felt like his wings were beating against bars until bloody, his teeth and nails scraping until chipped. It wasn't John's fault, but he felt like a captor all the same.

His stomach twisted bitterly at the ugly thoughts, and he pushed them aside as he searched for his bottle of pills and his mask. He hooked the straps of the latter around his ears, adjusting it comfortably before sticking the former into his pocket. After another moment of debate, punctuated by fear and anxiety and guilt and excitement, he turned on his heel and marched out to meet Henry.


	3. Chapter 3

**KAIDAN**

Henry's car was, in fact, a limosine, sleek and black and shiny. Kaidan found himself sitting opposite him on a bench seat, squished between two armed guards, which he supposed should have been his first clue that maybe something was amiss. Did most people have an armed entourage at business meetings? Maybe someone like Henry did, he supposed, the man heading the company responsible for organ repossession and Zydrate addiction. Then again, he was also responsible for revolutionary organ replacement. GeneCo's advancements had saved even Kaidan's life, let alone the lives of countless numbers of his patients.

"Kaidan. Kaidan."

Kaidan blinked, looking up as he realized Henry was speaking to him. "Sorry, what?"

Henry smirked, shaking his head at him. "Still absent minded as ever, I see."

Kaidan gave him a good glare. "I was thinking. What?"

"I was asking about John. I haven't spoken to him in a while," Henry said, his expression unreadable.

"He's good," said Kaidan, knowing this old trick - Henry was always trying to poke holes in their relationship, even when they were first dating. "He's been really busy. As usual. Works a lot of late nights."

"I can imagine," Henry said, smiling pleasantly. "And he leaves you in that big house all on your own?"

Kaidan gave him a hard look. "I'm a big boy, Henry."

"Of course. But it must get lonely."

"How have you been?" Kaidan asked to avoid continuing that line of conversation.

Henry stared at him for a moment, as if he was considering pushing the issue, before settling back in his seat. He poured them both glasses of some kind of amber liquid, handing one to Kaidan.

"I've been well. Apart from tracking down my daughter every evening," he sighed, shaking his head as he gazed out the tinted window. "Children, Kaidan. You're lucky you never had to carry the burden."

"We want to, one day," Kaidan said. "Once I'm better, and the plague dies down. I always heard that Miranda was very bright, even when she was a kid. Why did you never introduce us, by the way?"

"Oh, I don't like to introduce her to anyone until it's a sure thing," said Henry. "She's very sensitive about that sort of thing, after her mother."

"Still. We dated for a couple of months, and worked together for longer. It's a bit odd that I never met her," Kaidan pointed out.

"Well, you're meeting her, now," Henry said easily, glancing out the window again and smiling wider. "Ah. As if on cue! Here we are."

Kaidan leaned forward a bit, peering through the window and up at the towering GeneCo building. The neon glow with the company's named emblazoned upon it sat at the top, bathing the surrounding area in a red glow. It was the brightest thing for miles around, the walk and entryway surrounded by flashing lights, people in nice suits with microphones, others with elaborate hair and makeup and still-healing facial surgeries who appeared to be doing interviews with camera crews.

One of Henry's guards stepped out first, opening up an umbrella and holding it aloft as Henry stepped underneath it. The second did the same for Kaidan, who murmured to him that it was alright but received no response. If he received even eye contact, he would never know, as both guards' eyes were shrouded by pristine sunglasses despite the late hour. Henry led the way down the walk, smiling widely and waving at reporters and fans alike who shouted his named and asked for comment or a picture or an autograph. Kaidan quickly turned his face away from any camera that got near, petrified of his likeness getting on the news or something and John seeing it before he could come clean.

Because he was going to. Come clean, that is. Of course. Eventually. At the right time. This whole GeneCo thing might fall through, anyway, after all. No use worrying his husban unnecessarily.

Right.

Henry led them up to the steps of the GeneCo building itself, over which a red carpet had been rolled out and rose petals scattered all around for them to step on. Kaidan wasn't sure why, but supposed they looked nice even while they were muddy and crushed.

"Ah, Jack! Come and meet Kaidan."

A woman approached them, covered in tattoos and her eyes seeming to glow brightly, unnatural and beautiful. Henry stood back so Kaidan could shake her hand, grinning widely like this was the best thing that had ever happened to him. Or to them.

"Hi," Kaidan nodded, smiling faintly. "Kaidan Shepard-Alenko. Nice to meet you."

"Jack," she replied, tilted her head and lifting a dark, perfectly arched eyebrow. "Did you say Shepard?"

Kaidan nodded, blinking at her. "Yeah. My husband John works at the hospital. Do you know him?"

Jack stared at him for a long, silent moment, and Henry's smile became thin.

"Jack," he said stiffly, before visibly forcing himself to relax. "Kaidan is considering working alongside Miranda as our new spokesperson."

Jack looked to him, now, snorting quietly. "Miranda. Right."

"I know you don't exactly get along-"

"She's a kid. We get along as well as I'm willing to get along. But she's not going to want this job."

"Well," Henry said pleasantly. "No one is forcing you to leave."

Jack's expression went blank, and she turned away. "No. I made my decision."

"Of course." It was silent for several moments, during which Kaidan bounced anxiously on the balls of his feet. "Shall we speak to the press before they storm the place?"

Jack grit her teeth, and nodded once. She cast Kaidan another sideways glance, frowning, before following Henry up the steps. Kaidan stayed at the bottom, letting himself blend into the reporters and fans and testifying GeneCo clients as he watched Henry and Jack speak, haloed by neon red light. Henry kept his arm around Jack as he spoke, pinning her arms to her sides and keeping her close to his side. Her smile was wide but didn't reach her eyes, which found Kaidan several times throughout the interview.

"We are incredibly sad to see Jack go, aren't we?" Henry asked at a louder volume, nodding somberly as the crowd cheered and loudly declared their love for her and for GeneCo. "But don't despair! We have a new spokesperson to take Jack's place, one who knows the ins and outs of the company and will lead us to greater heights than ever before. Please, welcome my daughter Miranda, your new GeneCo spokesperson!"

The crowd began to cheer, and Kaidan grunted as people trying to crane and get a better look jostled him around. After a moment, though, the noise died down to a titter, and then whispers as Miranda Lawson was nowhere to be found. Henry looked absolutely livid, dangerous in a way that Kaidan remembered fearing and escaping before he could be on the receiving end.

"Miranda!"

Silence, and the cameras began to flash again. Reporters stormed GeneCo's steps, shoving microphones and cameras into Henry's face and shouting over each other as they tried to get their questions answered. Kaidan turned the opposite way, pushing his way past solid bodies and gasping as he was nearly toppled over several times. Finally he escaped the stampede, hurrying away and into a dark alley to the side of the towering building. He slid with his back down the wall and sat heavily on the concrete, closing his eyes and taking deep breaths as he felt his heart racing. Had to get his blood pressure down, before-

"Blood pressure warning. Medicate immediately."

"Fuck," Kaidan hissed, punching the monitor on his wrist to turn off the alert before digging into his sweater pocket for his pills. He scrambled to get the lid off, growling when the lid wouldn't come off. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, please don't check it, please don't-"

"Kaidan?"

Kaidan froze, the pill bottle and now detached lid suspended in his hands. "...Hi, John."

"Your monitor went off, did you take your meds?"

"Yes," Kaidan said quickly.

"Okay. Be careful, alright? You can go into shock if you don't keep up on it."

"I know. Thanks for-"

A garbage truck passed in front of the alley, it's engine groaning and hydrolics hissing noisily, and Kaidan grit his teeth so hard they nearly cracked.

"...what's that?"

"...what's what?"

The truck blasted it's horn at a jaywalking pedestrian.

"That," John said firmly.

"Oh. That," Kaidan replied, trying to keep his voice steady. "My...window is cracked."

"Then why aren't you wearing your mask? Should I head back?"

"No," Kaidan said quickly. "Everything's fine, honey. I'm sorry I forgot my pills. I took them just now."

John released a long breath through his nose. "Don't be sorry. I'm just worried." John's sentence was punctuated by a harsh, cut off scream.

Kaidan blinked in surprise. "What's that?"

"Uh, one of my patients," said John, sounding a bit strained. "He's not doing well."

"Will he be alright?"

"It's...looking grim. I should go."

Kaidan nodded to himself, shaking out a couple of pills as they spoke. "Okay. I love you."

"I love you, too."

The call disconnected, and Kaidan popped his blood pressure pills before swallowing them dry. He leaned back against the wall, taking deep breaths as his heart rate regulated and he was left feeling vaguely light-headed. The relief slowly gave way to frustration as he allowed himself to recover - why did he have to lie about this? Why did he have to sneak around? Why did John keep him locked up like a prisoner?

Why did he have to be sick?

"Hey."

Kaidan nearly pissed himself, jumping to his feet and spinning around at the vocie from within the shadows of the alley.

"Who's there?" he demanded, fists clenched.

Out of the shadows stepped a girl, appearing no older than twenty, with long black hair and eery blue eyes that Kaidan would recognize anywhere.

"Miranda Lawson," he murmured.

"And you must be father's new favorite," Miranda replied, her lips curving into a very Henry-esque smirk.

"Um. I don't know. He wants us to work together, I think," Kaidan said, watching her as she stepped closer. "As spokespeople."

"Yeah, because Jack decided she's on to bigger and better things," Miranda said, almost bitterly. "But I won't do it. And neither should you."

Kaidan frowned, shaking his head as he crossed his arms. "I haven't quite decided, but...well. Why not?"

Miranda sighed, giving him an exasperated look before holding out her hand. "Come on. There's things you need to know before you go around getting mixed up with father. Again."

Kaidan's cheeks turned a bit pink. "I...don't-"

"Save it. Coming, or what?"

He hesitated, looking between Miranda's outstretched hand, a couple of the fingers wrapped up with dirty bandages, and the mouth of the alley. It was getting frighteningly late, but then again, John had sounded very busy on the phone. He was likely to not come back until the morning, or maybe even after that...

"Alright," Kaidan said firmly as he took Miranda's bandaged up hand. "Take me wherever it is you're taking me, then."


	4. Chapter 4

**KAIDAN**

Either Miranda had forgotten she was with someone, or she was eager to get away from her father as quickly as possible. Either way, Kaidan struggled to keep up with the pace, and he told himself it was because of the earlier spike in his blood pressure, and not because he was an old fuck and she was half his age. Definitely not that.

"Where are we going?" he called to Miranda, several feet ahead with a pistol in her hand. "I need to get back home."

Miranda cast a look at him over her shoulder. "Keep it down, you'll wake up the whole neighborhood," she snorted, before pausing to lean around the next corner. "I've got some people you need to meet, before you decide to keep working with my father."

Kaidan lifted his hands and let them drop helplessly, looking around as if he would recognize the surrounding area. He'd never been to this part of the city, though, and even if he had he hadn't been out and about in quite a while. A pit of anxiety clenched his stomach as he realized how long he'd been out of the house without a mask on, and he felt vaguely ill when he looked at his watch and realized it was nearly two in the morning. He continued crossing all of his fingers and toes that John would work late.

"How much farther?" he asked tensely, then blinked as he nearly ran into Miranda's back when she came to a sudden halt.

"We're here," she snorted, giving him a look before leading the way down a dark alleyway to the right. 

The paternal side of Kaidan that he had never gotten to indulge protested a girl so young wandering around such places, but he forced it back down in favor of following tight on her heels. It was difficult to see where he was walking, and he grimaced as his feet skidded on wet debris and Miranda had to tug him out of the way before he waltzed right into a trash bin. Kaidan muttered his thanks, pouting and straightening up his shirt where she'd made a fist in it, before realizing they were coming to the mouth of the alley. They emerged into a junction between what appeared to be four apartment buildings, a square space decorated with colorful graffiti and string lights of varying sizes.

"Guys!" Miranda called, jogging into the middle of the square. "I've got a visitor you should meet!"

It was silent for a moment, before from the shadows stepped a hulking man, at least seven feet tall with flushed, freckled skin and fiery orange hair down to his shoulders. His beard was nearly as long, frizzy and thick and twitching as he regarded Kaidan. 

"Who's this?" the man asked in a deep, rumbling voice.

"Easy, Wrex, he's a friend," said Miranda, patting his chest firmly with a grin. "Father's latest plaything. I thought I'd introduce him to the gang."

Wrex grunted, his eyes sliding over Kaidan's form as it sizing him up, causing him to tense up nervously and stand straighter. "He looks like a cop. You sure he's not a cop?"

Kaidan scoffed indignantly. "I'm not a cop. I'm a doctor. Well, I was. I'm on leave."

"On leave, eh?"

"Yes. I'm sick."

Wrex hummed, a rough sound in his throat, and nodded slowly. "I imagine you would be, yeah."

Before Kaidan could ask him what the hell that was supposed to mean, two more figures stepped out from the shrouded corners of the square. One was a tall man, slender with slicked back hair, deep skin and a marled scar on the left side of his face that pulled his mouth into a crooked smirk. His stance was easy enough, though his sharp eyes sweeping the alley betrayed his vigilance. The woman beside him, older than Miranda but still quite young, had at least four earrings in each ear and her hair pulled up into a tight bun that looked like it might be tugging on her forehead a bit. She held a pistol in her hand, pointed at the ground for now but her dark eyes were sharp as they trained on Kaidan. 

"Guys, this is Kaidan," said Miranda, clapping his back. "Kaidan, this is Garrus and Ashley."

"Hi," Kaidan greeted bemusedly, nothing making any more sense than it had five minutes ago. "Uh, not to be rude but...who the hell are you people?"

Miranda snorted, hoisting herself up to sit on a stack of shipping containers and kicking her feet. Her thick, black boots thudded noisily against the metal. "We don't really have a name. But we're a gang."

"A gang? So, what, you're gonna jump me? Kinda lame to jump a guy with a medical condition."

Miranda snickered, shaking her head. "No. We don't jump people. Well, unless they're Repo Men."

Kaidan tilted his head at her, glancing at the others. "Repo Men? Tell me you don't tangle with them. You could be killed."

Wrex grunted harshly. "Yeah, and if we don't, they go on killing other poor fucks who can't afford tribute to Henry Lawson."

"Taking out Repo Men is only a small part of what we do," said Ashley, leaning back against the brick walll and folding her arms over her chest. "We also run heists to get supplies, medicine, stuff like that, for victims of GeneCo. Lots of people are homeless, or disabled after botched surgery, or addicted to Zydrate."

Kaidan sighed through his nose, shaking his head. "Zydrate. I always said there were better painkillers out there, I don't understand-"

"Because addiction keeps us compliant," Miranda spat, her playful demeanor gone. "My own father gave me that shit when I was just a child."

Kaidan stared at her. "Wh-Zydrate isn't approved for use with people under eighteen."

Miranda laughed blackly. "Well, tell that to our lord and savior Henry Lawson."

"I'm...that's awful. Miranda, don't you have anywhere you can go? Is your mother available?"

Miranda snorted. "No."

"Oh. I'm...sorry."

"Don't be. She never existed."

It was silent for several moments as Kaidan tried to decide if she was fucking with him. By the tense, angry looks on the faces of her friends, it seemed that Miranda was indeed telling the truth. He opened his mouth, but no words came out, and she smirked at him.

"That's right - I'm a petri dish baby," she drawled. "My father wanted the perfect child, the perfect daugther. And when he didn't get it, despite all of his meticulous planning, he forced me to undergo surgeries until he did. The Zydrate was necessary, of course," she added sarcastically, "as the surgeries were so...frequent."

"Jesus."

"The media, and Lawson himself, have painted Miranda in a different light," Ashley interjected, resting a hand on Miranda's shoulder and squeezing. "The narrative that she's a surgery-obsessed party girl are fucking lies. It's only a matter of time, now that GeneCo is moving on to the brain, before he tries to rewrite her personality entirely."

Kaidan's stomach twisted and his heart stopped. "You can't stay with him. You need to get out."

"She stays with me, for the time being," Ashley told him, though she gave him an odd look. "I still dont' understand why you're here."

"Father wants me and him to take over when Jack steps down," Miranda explained, glaring bitterly at the ground. 

"Shit," Garrus sighed, shaking his head. "So she's really doing it?"

"I guess so," Miranda shrugged, still not looking at anyone. "Guess she thinks father will let the debt go, since she's worked for him for so long."

"Or she doesn't care," Wrex snorted. 

Kaidan frowned, looking between them. "I don't understand. I thought Jack's contract was up."

Garrus quirked an eyebrow at him. "GeneCo contracts are never 'up.' If Jack steps down, they're gonna send a Repo Man to take back GeneCo property. In this case, her eyes."

"But...but she paid the debt. With the work."

"Nope," Miranda said, her lips popping on the 'p.' "Those contracts are for life. Or until father decides he's done with you, which is almost as bad as resigning. He doesn't give out free surgeries out of the kindness of his heart, he does it to get a state-sanctioned slave."

Kaidan stared at her, his mind racing as he tried to reconcile everything he'd ever heard about GeneCo, the company that fucking owned the hospital that he and John worked at, and what these people were telling him. It didn't make any damn sense. He took a deep breath as he felt his heart rate increasing, not wanting to set off another alert. 

"Henry wanted to use me as a test subject, for the new operation GeneCo developed for brain diseases and injuries," said Kaidan, his voice a bit weak in his throat. "I guess he wanted me to be a success story. Although I...I'm not really sure, anymore, what he'd have done if it wasn't a success."

"Gotten rid of you, likely," Miranda scoffed, before softeneing a bit at the look on his face. "Look. I brought you here because I think you can help us. You're on the inside. And Jack's..."

"Disillusioned," Garrus supplied, smiling sadly when Ashley nodded in agreement. "She's helped us before, but she's so afraid of Lawson that she's not a reliable source."

"That's where you come in," said Wrex, resting a large hand on Kaidan's shoulder and dwarfing it completely. "You take the job with Lawson and work as our inside guy. Feed us info, that kind of thing."

Kaidan blinked up at him, then at the others. "Uh. I think you're all misunderstanding my situation. I'm sick. I'm not even supposed to be outside at all, let alone without a mask .I don't actually know if I'm going to be able to get out of bed tomorrow. Let alone the fact that if my husband knew, he'd padlock the bedroom shut for good."

Ashley quirked an eyebrow at him. "Your...husband would lock you up?"

Kaidan stared at her for a moment. "I...no, not literally."

"But he keeps you shut inside? All the time? When's the last time you came out?"

"I...that doesn't matter," Kaidan huffed. "It's for my safety. I just had an attack right before Miranda found me. There's no way I can handle a job like this."

Miranda sighed heavily, giving him a look. "Just think about it, okay? We're not gonna force you, but...think about it. We could really use you."

Kaidan opened his mouth to protest, then closed it and chewed the inside of his lip. "...I will. I'll think about it."

"Thank you."

Another glance at the clock, and Kaidan swore harshly under his breath. "I need to get home. John will be back anytime."

"We can take you," said Ashley, nodding toward the mouth of the alley they'd come from. "We'll take my truck."

Kaidan nodded, following after her as the other three trailed behind. He glanced over his shoulder at them. "Thanks. Um, you don't all have to come. I'll be okay."

"We're going on a job after we drop you off," Wrex smirked, nudging him so hard he stumbled. "Don't flatter yourself."

Kaidan snorted, shaking his head and unable to help the slight smile.

"Right. Of course. Well, thank you, anyway."


	5. Chapter 5

**JOHN**

The bad day weren't as frequent as they used to be. When Kaidan first got sick, he would be unconscious for days at a time, too exhausted to leave their bed or even sit up against the pillows. After John's mistake, that was when the migraines and seizures had started, and it truly seemed as if he would lose him. John could still remember, vividly, watching frozen as Kaidan's eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed to the floor the first time, as blood trailed from his nose and across his pale cheek. It had taken several moments before his medical training kicked in, and even so his steady hand was nowhere to be found.

So, things weren't as bad as they had once been. Even still, seeing Kaidan bedridden seemingly out of nowhere, his palour grey and the cirlces under his eyes pronounced, was terrifying. John leaned over to kiss his clammy forehead, smiling weakly when he opened his eyes.

"I have to go to work," he said, petting Kaidan's hair and trying to smooth the untamed curls. "I'll be back late."

"Okay," Kaidan murmured, tilting his head back for a proper kiss. 

"I set an alert for you to take your pills later on, okay? So you don't have to remember."

Kaidan smiled a bit wider, beautiful even now, and lifted a palm to press to John's cheek. It was clammy, but still warm. 

"Thank you."

John turned his head to kiss the center of it briefly, before getting to his feet. By the time he'd retrieved his jacket from where it was draped over the bedframe, Kaidan was already asleep again. He took a breath through his nose, watching his husband sleep for another second before pulling on his jacket and leaving the bedroom. He ducked into his study, unlocking the safe where he kept his brief case and hauling it out with a bit of effort. It was cold to the touch, refrigerating his most recent organ repossession so he could turn it in. He made sure the latches were secure, before swiftly exiting the office and descending the stairs. 

A sleek, black car awaited him outside, transport sent from Lawson himself as usual. He stared out the window the entire drive, avoiding eye contact iwth the armed guard sitting opposite and nearly bumping knees with him. He watched numbly as they drove by a corpse pickup truck, two masked workers hauling dead bodies off the side of the road and chucking them into the back as if they were garbage. Zydrate overdose, he mused, or organ failure. They'd been there a while, at any rate, he noted, detached in a way that might have disturbed him two years ago. But now...now he was just about as dead as they were, he supposed.

The steps outside of GeneCo were still littered wtih debris and adorned with a red carpet, the previous night's festivities yet to be cleaned up after. For as many men as Henry employed, John mused as he climbed out of the car, a precious few of them were dedicated to keeping his place clean. His boots crunched on confetti and carelessly discarded plates and cups, all the way up to the grand doors that gave way without him having to lift a finger. The doormen nodded him inside, and the doors closing behind him again reminded him vaguely of being entombed. He took a moment for himself, breathing in and then out, tightening his grip on the briefcase in his fist, before continuing up the imposing staircase.

Lawson's office door was flanked by two more guards, who opened the door for him only after checking his identification and scanning his handprint on a tablet. He grit his teeth in disproprotionate irritation - surely they recognized him, by now? After all of the disgusting, demeaning jobs John had done for Lawson over the past two years? Once his identity was triple checked, the door into Lawson's office was opened, and John stepped inside.

The man himself was sitting at his sprawling, obnoxious oak desk, located in the center of the room. John couldn't have written a more cartoonish indicator of self-absorption if he tried. Lawson was leaning back in his chair, elbows resting on the arms and fingers steepled, a lopsided smirk on his lips as he watched John approach.

"John," he greeted pleasantly. "I was beginning to wonder about you."

"This one was crafty," said John, setting the brief case on Lawson's desk with a thud. He pressed the release, and the side of the bag opened to reveal the refrigerated interior, along with the repossessed heart inside. Henry observed the organ with vague interest, nodding to the guard on his right once he was satisfied. The man whisked away the organ to wherever the hell they were taken; John wasn't really sure. Had never thought to ask. Or maybe he just didn't care. It was hard to care about much, these days.

"So," Henry interrupted, jolting him from his thoughts. "I have a new assignment for you."

John raised an eyebrow. "Is there a reason you couldn't phone me this target?"

That fucking smirk spread a bit wider, until Lawson looked like the devil himself. John had, not his first, fantasy about wiping it off his face for good. 

"This assignment is of a more personal nature. One of GeneCo's own employees. As you know, Jack will be stepping down as GeneCo's spokesperson as of tomorrow evening."

John's stomach seemed to fall through the floor, his hairline prickling with cold sweat. "Jack?"

Henry raised an eyebrow at him. "Yes. Her contract states that her eyes are forfeit should she ever sever her relationship with GeneCo. She will be difficult to track down, and so of course I have assigned my best repo man to the job."

John shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut. "I can't."

"Now, John," said Lawson, his voice a mocking lilt. "I know the two of you are close-"

"I said no," John snarled. "Find someone else. I can't do this job."

Lawson got to his feet, his desk chair scraping against the floor in a harsh cry. "Oh, can't you?" he asked blackly, slowly circling around his desk to stand toe to toe with John, eyes on fire. "Then perhaps I can't keep my mouth shut regarding your husband, any longer."

A new fear gripped John's chest, knocking the breath from him. "No."

"Had you forgotten the night you poisoned him?" Lawson pressed, his tone more sharp than before. "The night he nearly died because of you?"

"It was an accident," John croaked, fists clenched tight. 

"Of course." Lawson's voice became more gentle at once, as if a switch had been flipped. "But it was your fault, nonetheless. Your carelessness. And so far, I've been willing to keep Kaidan in the dark. You know I haven't spoken to him in years." He lifted a hand, pressing his palm to John's cheek. John grunted and smacked it away. "John. If you will not hold up your end of the bargain, I will not hold up mine."

John met his eyes, finding his expression to be stoic and firm. He knew exactly what happened when people under contracts such as his left GeneCo. It was the same thing that Lawson was asking him to do to Jack - repossession of property. Every repo man under Henry Lawson's employ was a slave with chains made of blackmail and debt. If a repo man tried to leave GeneCo, they were hunted like animals for their trouble.

Would Lawson truly tell Kaidan John's secret? A man other than him might have been bluffing, but Lawson was vindictive. Even if John wouldn't live long enough to suffer his husband's scorn, Lawson would revel in the chance to soil his memory, to hurt them both in the worst possible way. John had known that would be his plan, ever since that fateful night at the hospital.

Henry had been a sporadic presence, after he and Kaidan had broken up. Falling in love with Kaidan had been a complete accident, on John's part, as he'd worked closely with him, became his friend, saw how caring and beautiful his soul was. He hadn't intended to "steal" him away from Lawson, even if he had thougth he was a jackass. Several months had passed before John and Kaidan even went on a date, although Henry would never notice that. All he saw was an interceptor, and an opportunity when Kaidan had fallen victim to the plague. 

Fuck, that had been terrifying. Organ failures were sweeping through the city, the hospital overcrowded and overwhelmed and doctors becoming infected left and right. John could still see the night they knew Kaidan was in trouble, sharp in his mind's eye like it had happened moments ago - a thin trail of blood trailing from Kaidan's nostril, his fingers trembling as they reached to touch it, his skin going grey and his eyes rolling back as he collapsed, convulsing in a way that still made John sick to think about. Apparently, the organ that had been affected in Kaidan was his goddamn brain, in the form of lesions that seemed to fucking reproduce daily. 

Henry slithered back onto the scene, wallet in hand. He just wanted to help John with treatment, he'd insisted, just wanted to make sure Kaidan would make it. John wouldn't deny that the money was helpful, but the slimy bastard had one eye on sweeping Kaidan away the second the opportunity presented itself. Unfortunately for Lawson (and for Kaidan. Fuck.), John's treatments were experimental at best, and the experiment ended up a complete failure. The fucked up thing was, he'd been improving for days, the seizures less frequent and the concurrent migraines less intense. And yet, John gave him his medication as he had before, and it took only moments for Kaidan to go into cardiac arrest. John wasn't sure who was watching, but whoever it was guided his fucking hands that night as he pulled Kaidan from the brink by the skin of his teeth. 

Kaidan's death had been avoided, but his life had been ruined. Not only was Kaidan's brain still deteriorating (more slowly, but still consistent), not only did he still get seizures and migraines so powerful they left him sick and bedridden with bruises painting his scalp, he now had cardiac issues to add to the list. Any time Kaidan's blood pressure rose, he was in danger of either a seizure or a heart attack, depending on which part of him was feeling the most fucking feisty that day. This also made his immune system an absolute joke. And John had done that to him. John was the reason he was now unable to leave the house or, often, their fucking bed. He was the reason he had to keep his emotions in check so he didn't kill himself by getting upset, the reason why he had to take medicine six thousand fucking times per day. John was the reason their goddamn marriage was falling apart, because who wants to fuck or kiss or love the person who's imprisoning them?

If Kaidan found out, he'd leave John for sure. And honestly, he'd probably be better for it. After all, poisoning him wasn't the only horrible thing John had done.

John looked into Henry Lawson's eyes, his jaw tight and head lifted. 

"I cannot do this job," he reiterated. "Find someone else."

He turned on his heel, ignoring Henry shouting after him, and descended the steps of GeneCo before disappearing into the night.


	6. Chapter 6

**KAIDAN**

The medicine was bitter as it went down Kaidan's throat, but it only made him frown slightly. When he'd first started it, it was a full-body shudder every time, making goosebumps raise on his skin. He used to joke with John about putting it in soda or something, but then again that probably would have been even worse than just water. He smiled a bit at the memory of John playfully suggesting he put it in whiskey, since that would probably make Kaidan take it without having to be poked and prodded so much. The smile fell as quickly as it had come, and he set the empty glass back on the nightstand.

John hadn't been due for a shift, but he'd apparently been called in for a couple of hours. Kaidan was becoming more and more frustrated with the hours John was working, in the most selfish way. He was a doctor himself, he knew how much good John was doing, how much John was needed. Still, the other half of Kaidan, the part that was married to John, felt neglected. Sad. A little angry. A little bitter. He hated feeling those things, and they left an even worse taste in his mouth than the foul medicine, but he felt them all the same. He rolled over onto his back, staring up at the ceiling blankly.

His brain had been trying to combust all day long, and only now, as the hour grew so late it was nearly early, was he able to open his eyes without wanting to throw up. Speaking of which...he grimaced, leaning over to retrieve the cooking pot from the floor and get to his feet, waiting a moment to test his balance and overall well-being before shuffling out and to the kitchen downstairs. He turned on lights as he went, never liking walking through pitch black, and rinsed out the pot in the sink quietly. The buzzer on the callbox was shrill in the silence, and he nearly leapt out of his skin in surprise. He dropped the now-clean pot with a clatter, rushing to the box and pressing down on the speaker.

"Hello?"

"Kaidan. It's Kaidan, right?"

Kaidan stared into space for a moment, debating. "Who are you?"

"A friend. Let me in, would you?"

Something possessed him to press the release for the lock (when had he become so popular, he wondered wryly) before rushing to see who this friend was.

In the doorway stood Jack, of all people, pulling a thick black hood off of her head as she closed the door behind her. She turned when she heard Kaidan's feet creaking on the landing, and there was a long moment where the two of them just stared at each other.

"I saw you the other night," she said eventually, watching him closely. "At GeneCo."

Kaidan nodded slowly, still hovering at the top of the stairs. "Yeah. I saw you, too." Silence. "What do you want?"

She snorted, quirking an eyebrow at him. "Why so tense?"

"I can't have guests," Kaidan told her. "I'm sick."

"You were out and about the other night, if I remember correctly."

"I...that was different," Kaidan said, pursing his lips a bit.

She huffed a laugh. "Henry can be persuasive, that's for sure," she said bitterly.

Kaidan frowned at her. "So. You didn't answer my question."

Jack was quiet for another long moment, before turning away from him and beginning to slowly pace the entryway, admiring the paintings on the walls. "You said your husband - his name was John, right? He works at the hospital?"

"Wha-I-yes."

"What does he look like?"

Kaidan was absolutely bewildered, and Jack still wouldn't meet his eyes. "He's...got brown hair, blue eyes? A scar on his hairline."

Jack's eyes were boring into his in a flash, intense and actually making him take a step backward. "A scar on his hairline?"

"I-yes. What?"

Jack's brows pinched in the center and pulled down, her lips slightly parted as she seemed to struggle for words. "Kaidan, I don't...I just don't think your husband is exactly who you think he is."

Kaidan stared at her, waiting for her to elaborate. "I don't understand. Do you know him?"

Rather than answering, Jack's eyes began to glow, a gentle blue that lit up the entryway as before he lay a floating likeness of John. It was frozen, like a still from a movie, and he looked to be flecked all over with something dark - maybe blood. He was also wearing a uniform Kaidan didn't recognize from the hospital, a dark black gown that reached his ankles, and in his fist he held a long, glinting scalpel. Kaidan frowned, then blinked as the picture flickered away.

"I didn't know you could do that for anything," he said. "I thought maybe it was programmed, or something."

She shook her head. "No. Memories."

"That's incredible." Kaidan started as his memory was jogged. "Jack. Your eyes. GeneCo will take them if you step down."

"I'm aware of that."

They both jumped as the front door opened, revealing a tense looking John. When he caught sight of them both he froze in the doorway, he and Jack gaping at each other like dead fish. John came back to himself long enough to close and lock the door, before turning and fixing Kaidan with a hard look.

"Hi, John."

John ignored her. "Who is this?" he asked Kaidan firmly.

Kaidan frowned at him in disbelief. "What? John, she just said your name. You know her. I know you know her."

John's already hard expression darkened considerably, and he turned his glare on Jack. "What are you doing here?"

"Nice to see you, too," Jack replied sharply, her eyes flashing in a way her modifications were not responsible for.

"Kaidan is ill," John said firmly. "It isn't safe for him, for you to be here."

"Funny how I never even knew you had a husband before now," she spat back. "I guess it makes sense, with you locking him up like a dog."

"It isn't that simple!"

"John."

Kaidan set his jaw with determination as John's eyes swiveled toward him.

"John, Jack's in trouble," he said firmly. "As soon as she ends her contract, a repo man is going to come and take her eyes. GeneCo isn't what we thought it is."

John's hard expression melted into something more somber, even haunted. "I know that, Kaidan."

"We need to hide her, here."

John's expression became harder to read as Kaidan could almost see the wall slamming down, and he shook his head, steering Jack toward the door.

"John, wait!" Kaidan cried, rushing down the stairs without care for his blood pressure or any of the other million things wrong with him - fuck it. "John, please!"

"I can fucking walk," Jack spat, shoving John off of her. She looked to Kaidan, her eyes hard. "Keep your eyes open, Kaidan. Don't trust anyone. Not even him."

The door slammed in her face.

Kaidan stared where she had been a moment ago, before rushing to open the door again. He was intercepted by John, who wrapped a tight fish around his arm and began to escort him up the stairs like a child. He pulled hard against his grip, fighting against him all the way to the bedroom.

"Kaidan, for fuck's sake!" John snapped, finally letting him go once they were inside, shutting the door behind them. "You're going to hurt yourself!"

"How can you just let her go?!" Kaidan shouted back, his heart pounding and face hot with rage. "How can you treat her like that? How can you treat me like that?"

John's hard facade cracked a bit. "Kaidan, I'm just trying to protect you!"

"Why don't you want me to know her?!" Kaidan retorted, his voice going hoarse, now. "Why are you keeping shit from me?!"

The room began to tilt a bit, and go fuzzy, and a cold sweat prickled his hairline.

"Kaidan, you need to calm down," John fretted, reaching for him and grimacing when Kaidan smacked his hand away. "Kaidan, please, your monitor is going off."

Kaidan tried to tell him he didn't give a fuck, he could have a heart attack for all he cared, but he was too busy bracing himself against teh wall as his vision began to tunnel. He sank to his knees, and was unconscious before the rest of him hit the floor.


	7. Chapter 7

**KAIDAN**

Kaidan woke underneath blankets, two pillows propped underneath his head and in a pair of sweats rather than day clothes. He opened his eyes, finding that his skin and head had the pleasant numbness of medication buzzing through them, stunting whatever pain he would likely be in otherwise. He turned his head to find John beside him, tapping two drops of medication into a water glass. Kaidan fantasized briefly about swiping it off of the table and watching it shatter on the floor.

"John?" he tried, voice a bit rough. Probably from all of the screaming, he mused, remembering the argument that had gotten him here. "M'sorry."

John glanced at him, smiling softly and petting his hair. "Don't be sorry, sweetheart. You just missed your medicine, that's all."

Kaidan stared at him, searching his face as his gut sank and went sour with quiet anger. John was going to pretend nothing had happened. Blame it on Kaidan's illness. How many other times had he done that, Kaidan wondered? He grit his teeth to keep himself from hurling the accusations aloud, instead smiling briefly and nodding. John leaned forward, kissing his forehead softly before straightening again. 

"I have to go to work," he said. "Take your meds, okay?"

Kaidan watched him leave, in a hurry as always, as his heart splintered a little bit more. It had been breaking steadily, he figured, over the past couple of years. Kaidan becoming bedridden was the worst thing that had ever happened to them, and every day a little bit more of who they used to be, what they used to be, seemed to be eroded away. And now, with John being so secretive, lying about who he knew and how he knew them (maybe even where he went each night, how was Kaidan to know?) Kaidan wasn't sure how they would ever get it back.

He took the water glass in his hand and, after a moment of staring into it, threw it against the wall. The glass shattered in a satisfying way, the medicine-laced water a misshapen splotch on the wallpaper.

* * *

It was near midnight when a message came through from Henry.

Kaidan sat up in bed, feeling a lot better physically after many hours of resting but the melancholy keeping him under the covers. He opened up the message and read quickly, chewing the inside of his lip - Henry wanted him to come to GeneCo once more. Something about having a task for him. The man never did get over his penchant for the dramatic and the vague, Kaidan noted dryly. 

Any fantasy he may or may not have entertained about working for Henry was out the window, at this point. Everything he'd heard about Miranda, and then Jack, had been enough to let him know that he'd been right when he'd pushed Henry away the first time. But now...now there was the issue of their safety. Both Jack and Miranda were in danger, and John...Jack had told Kaidan not to trust him. Why? Why couldn't he trust his own husband? What did John know? Why was he keeping it from Kaidan?

Setting his jaw, Kaidan sent over his agreement to Henry. If nothing else, getting any sort of clearance inside GeneCo's headquarters could be key to finding a way to deplatform Henry and save Jack and Miranda in the process. He could hope for some answers as to the skeletons in John's closet, as well, but...that could wait. He really hoped that his husband would come clean without needing to be exposed. Kaidan's heart would shatter irreperably otherwise. It was already cracked so deeply he wasn't sure it would ever be the same again.

A sleek, black car pulled up outside of the gate, and Kaidan marched out to meet it.

* * *

**JOHN**

All John wanted when he returned home was to collapse into bed and never come out again. Since refusing to complete the contract against Jack, he had been looking over his shoulder for Lawson or his men. The man was not known for his forgiveness, or his willingness to let his property go. And his repo men, John knew, were even more precious to him than the organs he blackmailed them into repossessing in his name. In his fear, John had spent all night scoping GeneCo headquarters, crafting his plan of attack as thoroughly as he could - he couldn't afford a mistake. Not this time.

He could feel his marriage crumbling apart, slipping through his fingers like sand as he tried to hold tighter, but even so John knew he had to protect Kaidan. And Kaidan would not be safe from Lawson with the man's ire turned on John. A selfish part of him wanted to shut Lawson up before he could reveal his secret and put the final nail in the coffin for his relationship. Fuck, he'd never loved anyone as much as he loved Kaidan. It had not been his intention to take him from Lawson, he'd swear it until the day he died (probably with a knife enscribed with GeneCo's name in his back) but there was an electricity when Kaidan met his eyes. A warmth to him that John had never known in another person. And he'd ruined him. Poisoned him. Locked him away. Drove him away. All in an effort to hold him closer than he deserved to.

John paused outside of the bedroom door, debating going to drink himself to sleep at the kitchen table instead. As tempting as it was, he needed to check on Kaidan, first - his spell had been really frightening. There was something deeply unsettling about the fact that they couldn't have any kind of emotionally charged conversation (or have sex, or play fight, or...) without Kaidan being punished for it. He took a breath and pushed open the door, creeping in quietly when he saw the lump in the bed was unmoving. He closed the door softly, coming to sit on the edge of the mattress.

"K," he murmured, reaching to touch him. "Wake up for just a second, I need to-"

His hand pressed down into empty blankets and pillows and he froze, frowning deeply. Dread pooled in his stomach, turning it sour, but he pushed it down for the moment as he got to his feet to open the door again.

"Kaidan?" he called into the hall, fist clenching around the doorknob when he received no answer. He listened and found no sound, stalked the house and found no one in the study, the kitchen, the bathroom. The house was empty. John's breath was erratic by the time he returned to the bedroom, finally noticing Kaidan's shoes and sweater were missing from where they always lay near the door. He began to overturn the room, not sure what he was expecting to find but too possessed by panic to stop. Kaidan could get sick, or hurt, or...

John paused, staring at the small scrap of paper on the side table, a note in Kaidan's messy scrawl.

_I don't know who either of us are, anymore. I don't know much of anything, I don't think. But I know when something is wrong, and I think you do, too. Or, you used to._

_I don't know if I'm coming back. But, still, I love you._

_\- Kaidan_

Blood rushed in his ears and in his veins, his heart pounding wildly against his rib cage as a mix of panic and rage built up inside of him. He clenched his fist, seeing red as he put down the note, his jaw set tightly. So, Henry thought he could turn Kaidan against him? Thought he hadn't punished him enough, so he poisoned the mind of the only person who mattered in the entire world until John was left alone? Then again, maybe this was what he deserved for the lying, the blood on his hands, both Kaidan's and that of strangers. Maybe he was truly lost, and Kaidan would be better off. He could make peace with that, at least.

But Henry Lawson? That man would never know peace. Not so long as John still drew breath. It was time to free himself, his family, the world of GeneCo, and of Henry Lawson.


	8. Chapter 8

**KAIDAN**

No one met him at the door, which was odd. Whatever money Henry didn't spend on surgery and cars, he spent on guards and security. Kaidan let himself into GeneCo headquarters, the entryway eery and empty, his footsteps echoing as he walked across elaborate tile. Henry had asked that Kaidan meet him at his office, at the very top of the skyscraper (so as to overlook the kingdom, of course), and Kaidan had never been more grateful for elevators. He stepped through the doors into the elevator as they parted, alone with his thoughts as he took the long trip up. 

He wondered when John would get home. Would he notice Kaidan wasn't there, or would it take him an hour or two to finally realize? Would he be sad, or angry that Kaidan had left? Would he be relieved not to be shackled anymore to the man of many illnesses?

He reached the top floor before he could talk more circles around himself, and stepped out into the hall.

Despite all of the years that had passed, Kaidan could still remember the way to Henry's office. The door was unlocked when he reached it - another oddity. The hairs on the back of Kaidan's neck stood up as he became uneasy, not liking how unattended everything was. Carefully, he pushed the door open, frowning as he pricked up his ears for any surprises. The office was empty, as well, the elaborate desk in the center of the room, atop it a shining, golden nameplate with Henry's name etched into it. Behind the desk lay a wall of floor-to-ceiling windows, a sprawling view of the city beyond it. Even at this late hour, lights twinkled in all of the buildings, a replacement for the stars they couldn't see.

A soft click behind him, and the lights overhead went dark. 

Kaidan swore sharply in surprise, going stock still as he was caught in pitch black. After a moment, the emergency lights flickered on, a red glow washing over the office and revealing that, while the lights had been out, metal slabs had closed down over the windows. Kaidan was tense, ice in his stomach, and yanked on the door handle - locked tight. He nearly leapt out of his skin when a voice sounded over the intercom system.

" _Apologies, Kaidan,_ " said Henry. " _Necessary precautions._ "

"What is going on?" Kaidan demanded. "Why am I locked in here?"

" _I'm afraid your services are needed. As bait, specifically._ "

Kaidan frowned deeply, backing away from the door to the center of the room. "I don't understand."

" _If someone attempts to enter my office, I want you to apprehend them. Then, I will know I can trust you._ "

"This is insane."

" _Not to worry, Kaidan. You're in no danger._ "

"Why don't I believe you?" Kaidan huffed. Henry didn't respond, and Kaidan was alone again.

He tried the door again for reasons unknown, grunting when it wouldn't budge. With that failure out of the way he walked the perimeter of the room, looking for anything that might help him to pry it open. He tried kicking, hitting the handle with various objects, and swearing at it to no avail. Finally he slumped to sit on the desk, scowling at the floor as his heart raced with nerves and anticipation. Bait. Bait for who? For what?

Ages seemed to pass before the door handle shook.

Kaidan lept to his feet, grabbing the nearest heavy thing he could find - in this case, a finely engraved vase. He held it like a club, shuffling to press up against the wall beside the door. After a moment of fruitless struggle, there was a brief pause, and then the door flew open under great force, mostly likely the boot or shoulder of whoever Kaidan was meant to be "bait" for. Kaidan heart skipped a beat when he saw the intruder - a Repo Man, clad all in black with a mask obscuring his face and a long, glinting scalpel in his hand. Kaidan held his breath, ,approaching slowly from behind, before bringing the vase cracking against the back of the Repo Man's skull. The man crumpled to the ground, reflexively tearing off his mask and pressing his palm where blood trickled down his neck. He looked up, and wolfish blue eyes met Kaidan's. They both froze, staring at each other.

"John?" Kaidan croaked, dropping the vase in his hand. It shattered on the floor at their feet.

John's shocked expression fell into something like resignation, the curve of his lips pulling downward in a grim bow. 

"I told you not to go outside. Didn't I?" he said quietly.

"You did," Kaidan nodded, struggling to find his voice. Something about this wouldn't compute in his mind. John, his John, couldn't be a Repo Man. Surely Kaidan would have known. But then again, he'd been so secretive, and-

"What are you doing here?" John asked lowly.

Kaidan jerked his neck back indignantly. "What am _I_ doing here?"

"If you had just stayed at home this wouldn't have happened," John said sharply, though his eyes were pure misery. "Please, let's just go home, K."

Kaidan shook his head slowly. "We can't just _go home,_ " he said, his throat sore with a heavy lump. "John, you...please, just tell me you're not...you're not one of them. Tell me you haven't been..."

"Been what?" John interjected, staring hard at him from the floor, kneeling amongst shattered porcelain. "Say it."

"I don't want to fucking say it," Kaidan spat, his temper flaring with anger and pain. "I can't-this-this makes no sense!"

"It does," John muttered, getting to his feet again and avoiding his eyes completely. "You just didn't want to see it. You always gave me the benefit of the doubt."

"Clearly that was a mistake," Kaidan snapped. "You've been killing people! Were you going to kill Jack for him, too? Is that why you drove her out of our house when she needed us?"

John's expression crumpled. "I wasn't going to do that job. I told Lawson no."

"I don't believe you," Kaidan said bitterly. "I can't believe a word that comes out of your mouth. You're..." He shook his head, blinking as his eyes stung. "You're not who I thought you were."

"No," John murmured. "I'm not."

Kaidan shook his head slowly, sick to his stomach as his mind continued to race. "He used me as bait for you. What did you do?"

"Told him I wouldn't do the job with Jack," John said, glancing toward the door. "He won't be happy."

"He'll kill you," Kaidan said weakly, his fists clenching.

"Yeah. Probably." John looked to him, his brows furrowing. "You need to get out of here. Now. I'll stay and face him."

"What?" Kaidan gasped, stumbling as John steered him toward the door.

"I said go. He won't be forgiving of you, either, not now that you've gotten involved."

Kaidan tore his arm out of John's grip. "I'm not leaving you."

"Kaidan-"

The door into Henry's office swung open again with such force that it ricocheted off of the wall, leaving a dent where the handle made impact. Two armed men marched through, heading toward John with stoic expressions and taking hold of ecah of his arms. Kaidan took a step toward them, but John shook his head, his expression hard.

"Kaidan, don't."

"But-"

"He's right, Kaidan. Don't do something you'll regret."

Henry practically strutted into the office, dressed as emaculately as usual and a smirk twisting his lips. The smile fell into something more like disdain when his fell upon John, pinned between the two guards and not putting up a fight. That didn't stop him from fixing Henry with a black glare, like he was trying to set fire to him with his eyes alone.

"Well done," he continued, glancing briefly at Kaidan. "I knew I could count on you."

"You neglected to tell me to expect my husband," Kaidan snapped, taking a step toward him and freezing when one of the guards pulled a handgun and level it at his head.

"Let's not be rash, Kaidan," Henry said, his voice a lilt that wanted to be soothing but was ugly and dripping in Kaidan's ears. "I can't blame you. This man has kept you in the dark for far too long. Ever since he stole you away from me."

"He didn't steal me."

"Didn't he?" Henry approached Kaidan slowly, John tensing up but still not fighting the hold of the guards. "Haven't you ever wondered where your many ailments originated? Why they all came on so suddenly?"

Kaidan frowned at him, not liking the look on his face. "It was the plague."

"The plague was the start. But he-" Henry pointed to John, whose jaw was clenched to tightly Kaidan could see the tendons bulging, "-he did the rest. Didn't you, John?"

John's lips were a white line. "It was an accident," he murmured eventually. Kaidan's stomach turned to ice.

"What? What was an accident?"

"It was his 'treatment' that poisoned you," Henry said, his voice an insincere sort of somber. Almost as if he was reveling in this moment. "He nearly killed you, and if it hadnt' been for me he'd have succeeded. I've kept the secret for him all this time, but it's killed me to do so."

Kaidan could hardly bear to look John in the eye, but he did, hoping and praying that John would say it wasn't true. That something in his face would say it was a lie. But all he saw were two, thick tears rolling down John's cheeks, even as he continued to glare murderously at Henry. 

"I don't understand," Kaidan said weakly.

"It was an accident," John repeated, his voice a bit hoarse as he turned his gaze to Kaidan. He softened the moment their eyes met. "I'm so sorry. I was ashamed, I didn't want-"

"He wanted you weak," Henry interjected, his voice in Kaidan's ear. "Weak and needy, so he could trap you inside forever and finally have you to himself."

"That's not fucking true!" John spat, finally trying to wrench his arms from the guards' grip. "I never wanted that, Kaidan, I swear."

Kaidan nodded weakly, though he was a little unsure. Even now that he knew John was a repo man, that he was also apparently a serial liar, he still struggled to believe that he would do _that_ to him. It just didn't make sense. John loved him, even in his anger Kaidan knew that much. But then, why-

"Father!"

Kaidan blinked as Miranda Lawson and Jack burst into the room, both of them armed and pointing their guns at Henry. Jack shifted her aim to the guards holding John when they leveled their own weapons at her. 

"Ah. I see you two have reconciled," Henry said dryly.

"No fucking around, Lawson," Jack snapped. "Not this time."

"We found something," Miranda said, her eyes swiveling to Kaidan while her weapon remained pointed at her father. "Something about what happened to you."

"To me?" Kaidan repeated, blinking. "I...I already know about the accident."

"It wasn't an accident. And it also wasn't your husband," said Miranda firmly.

"Miranda," Henry snapped, taking a step toward her. He froze when her weapon cocked, the click loud and threatening. Once he was still, she continued. 

"He kept the surveillance tapes from that night. So that no one would ever find them. He poisoned you," she said, her expression grim. "And the reason you're not getting better is because he's been poisoning your medicine, before John brings it home."

Kaidan stared at her, unable to form coherent thoughts for several moments as he processed all of the new, impossible information. His eyes slowly slid to Henry, whose mouth was twisted in a bitter snarl, his eyes on fire.

"You never should have left me," he said darkly. "I would have given you the world."

"So you tried to kill me?" Kaidan breathed. 

Henry's face twisted even more until he was unrecognizable, advancing on Kaidan and seemingly uncaring about Miranda's weapon any longer. "You forced my hand! After all that you put me through, what was I supposed to do?!"

They were interrupted by quiet chuckling. Johnwas looking down at the floor, a humorless laugh bubbling up from his chest, a crooked smile and his mouth that didn't reach his eyes. 

"You," he muttered, eyes finally lifting and flashing at Henry as he continued to snicker. "You. You framed me. Blackmailed me. Tried to murder my husband. You..." The smile slowly fell. "I'm gonna fucking kill you, now."

Several things happened at once.

John ripped himself free of the guards' hold, taking two steps toward Henry. Several people, including Kaidan, shouted his name. Henry reached into his pocket, retrieving a shiny, silver pistol which he pointed at Shepard's chest.

And then, a shot rang out.


	9. Chapter 9

**KAIDAN**

"John!"

Kaidan didn't have time to drop to his knees to see if he was alright - too many things were still happening at once. He froze as Henry pointed his gun at Miranda next, whose eyes went wide and knuckles white but she still didn't fire. Before she could make up her mind another shot rang out, then two more, and Kaidan gasped harshly only to find it had come this time, not from Henry, but from Jack. Her mouth was a disdainful line as she watched Henry sink to the ground, a bullet entry wound now leaking on his forehead.

"Fuck," Miranda croaked, her eyes still wide. She was still frozen as Jack wrapped his arms around her and turned her away.

It took a moment for Kaidan's brain to kickstart again, and he collapsed beside John, rolling him over and whimpering at the blood all over his shirt.

"John," he said shakily, rubbing his cheek with a thumb. "John, hey."

Miraculously John's brow furrowed, his eyes opening a crack. Kaidan released a breath, nearly bursting into tears in relief.

"Hey, doll," whispered John.

Kaidan laughed weakly, pulling open John's shirt so he could get a better look at his wound. "You're an idiot."

"Yeah."

After a moment of inspection, it seemed that Henry had really, really shitty aim - the bullet had definitely hit, but it had grazed underneath John's ribs instead of puncturing. A bloody trench was left behind, definitely in need of stitches but not nearly as life threatening as Kaidan had feared.

"You are a lucky bastard, John."

"Mm."

"Come on," said Jack tensely, still holding onto Miranda tightly. "Let's get the hell out of here."

* * *

They rushed John back to the house in Miranda's truck, unwilling to stay outside any longer than necessary now that they were responsible for the murder of Henry Lawson. Kaidan shoved that particular anxiety down, for now - the priority was John. Even if his wound wasn't immediately fatal, it was still bleeding swiftly and heavily, and he seemed to be fading in and out as they drove. As soon as they arrived at the house Kaidan scooped John into his arms, rushing him upstairs without care for his blood pressure. John mumbled some kind of scold to that effect, which Kaidan ignored.

Carefully, he laid John on the bed, not giving a shit about the blood staining their blankets and sheets, probably the mattress too. He jogged down the hall to the office, where they kept emergency medical supplies including antiseptic and spare stitching. When he returned John was completely unconscious which, he mused with a grimace, was probably for the best. He pulled the desk chair over to the side of the bed, pushing up his sleeves, and began to stitch John back together. It seemed that topical surgery was sort of like riding a bike, although the scar would likely be messy - he was out of practice. After it was finished, it was as if all of the energy in his body left him at once. He looked up when he felt Jack's hand on his shoulder.

"Go get some rest," she said quietly.

Kent glanced over her shoulder to Miranda, who was sitting at the window and staring out quietly at the city.

"Is she okay?"

"No," said jack, shaking her head. "I'm going to call Ashley. She'll come pick her up. And then, eventually, yeah. She'll be alright."

John woke again in the morning, when the sunlight filtered through and made him squint. Kaidan smiled weakly at him, organizing painkillers and fresh bandages on the desk. He'd slept a bit, though a little uncomfortably as he'd settled on the couch rather than beside John on the bed. He crossed the room to sit on the side of the mattress, brushing John's hair away from his eyes and looking him over.

"How are you feeling?"

"Sore. But okay," John said quietly, avoiding his eyes.

Kaidan nodded, doing the same. It was hard to know what to say, how to look at him, now. His eyes fell on the note he'd left the previous night, saying he was leaving and maybe not coming back, and his heart clenched.

"Kaidan."

"Don't."

"I'm so...sorry."

Kaidan let out a long breath through his nose. "There's only one thing you need to apologize to me for. You lied. For years."

John swallowed thickly, his eyes flitting down again. "I know."

"My illnesses aren't your fault," said Kaidan. "Even if they were...John, I would have forgiven you. You wouldn't have even needed to be forgiven."

John shrugged one shoulder, discreetly rubbing at his eye. "Felt like a piece of shit. Like I'd ruined your life."

"Henry did. And now he's gone." Kaidan softened, reaching to tentatively play with John's fingers. "...it feels like our lives were stolen from us."

"Mm."

"...John. I don't think I can stay here."

John's jaw clenched, and his eyes got shiny, and he nodded stiffly. "I understand."

"So. Where do we go?"

John blinked, looking up at him. "Wh-we?"

Kaidan frowned deeply, before understanding dawned on him. "Oh. The note." He chewed the inside of his lip, finally taking John's hand properly. "I...I think we have some work to do. On...this. Us. But I don't want to be without you. I think we need each other."

John sighed shakily, sniffling a little and rubbing his eye again. "Yeah. Fuck. I love you, I'm so-"

"No more apologizing," Kaidan murmured, leaning to kiss his forehead. "Let's just...try again. ...I really can't stay here. I think we need to leave the city."

John nodded slowly, squeezing Kaidan's hand. "Yeah. Yeah, you're right."

Kaidan kissed him properly, soft and brief but warm.

"It's gonna be okay," he said, promising them both. "We're gonna be alright."

John nodded again, resting his head on Kaidan's shoulder. They were quiet for a while, holding each other and embarcing the calm as they prepared to face whatever the world outside had to throw in their path. To discover who they were, free at last from the towering shadow of GeneCo and Henry Lawson's bloody legacy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank y'all so much for reading, and to solstheimart for providing some kick ass accompanying art!! Reminder to go check out the art post on tumblr and smother it with reblogs and likes :3 https://solstheimart.tumblr.com/post/623120934322225152/hi-yall-super-excited-to-show-off-what-ive


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